Road to Redemption
by Miss Huli Jing
Summary: It takes time and effort to shake off a bloody reputation, an indomitable will to push through sand and mud to claw even the tiniest morsel of acceptance from the clenched fists of stubborn villagers . It takes strength, courage, and blazing determination to truly change. Some would say it was impossible, but a simple glare from pale mint eyes challenges them to do so. GaaraOC.
1. Prologue

Prologue

_"Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater." — William Hazlitt_

Karura was already in his office by the time he finished his meeting. She was perched on the edge of his desk, rubbing slow circles over her rounded belly while staring out the window almost serenely. She was beautiful, a sort of tragic angel with the look of resigned sadness lingering in her eyes.

He shut the door behind him with a heavy heart.

At the click of the door, she looked up, eerily calm. It was times like these that he feared his wife. "Is everything set?"

Takeo the fourth Kazekage ran a hand over his tired face and made his way towards her. He reached for her, but when she turned her face slightly away, he changed his course and collapsed into his desk chair. Sighing, he glanced up at his wife, who turned her face back towards him. "The demon will be sealed about a week before you're due."

Karura's expression did not change, but the look in her eyes grew heavier. She stopped rubbing circles over her belly and let her arm linger over the bulge, looking down at her unborn child. "I see." She hopped off the desk, keeping her hand to her stomach almost protectively. "I'll be heading home now. Don't stay out too late, Takeo." With that, she left, closing the door silently behind her.

Left alone in the room, Takeo sighed again and laced his fingers together, resting his forehead against them.

His wife and third child were condemned to their fates, one to her death and the other to a life of hatred. It was all because of him. All it took was one order and he could save his family from falling apart—he could save Karura. He could watch Temari and Kankuro grow up with a mother; he could meet and love his unnamed third child without guilt. He could save his own face and not go down in history as one of the heartless brutes who sealed a demon in his own child.

Who was he to decide people's fates like that? Who was he to take away any semblance of a normal life from his child? Who was he to be his own wife's executioner?

A glance out the circular window of his office chased away the doubts.

Outside, he could see a magnificent city—sandstone buildings, high canyon walls, and beyond those walls, the magnificent golden dunes of the Great Wind Country Desert.

This was Suna. _His_ Suna, _his_ city. As much as he wanted to be a good father and husband, as Kazekage of Suna, the village was always top-priority.

There was no other choice.

A soft knock at the door snapped Takeo out of his stupor.

"Kazekage-sama, Elder Chiyo is here to see you," a male voice said.

Pulling his handsome features back into a professionally stony expression, Takeo called out, "Let her in, Arata."

The door opened, revealing his secretary, a young shinobi with excellent patience for his age, with a sullen-looking grey-haired woman behind him.

With a grave look, Chiyo, whom Takeo had assigned as head of the operation, walked before his desk with a small packet of papers in her old hands.

"The medics and I need Karura to come in for a check-up next week," she said in a timeworn voice as she handed the new papers to him. "Just to make sure her vitals are fine. After the sealing we would like to keep her in the hospital to monitor the results. Everything should be fine though."

Takeo's hands were steady as he took the papers and scanned them, but inside, he was shaking. How cruel fate was to have him decide between his two loves: his family and his village.

It's for Suna.

Looking back up at one of the oldest shinobi in the village, Takeo saw in her eyes that she understood that the sacrifice was needed for Suna. He nodded curtly. "I see. You are dismissed."

Bowing her head, Chiyo left the room, closing the door behind her.

It wasn't even five minutes later when the door suddenly flew open again, this time smashing into the wall so hard that the doorknob left a slight crack.

"Takeo!" the intruding man bellowed, completely forgoing formalities. He was a tall man with raven black hair sticking up in spikes and his Suna headband tied around his left bicep. His electric blue eyes crackled with energy and rage as he strode forward, slamming his hands down onto the fourth Kazekage's desk. "Why am I hearing that you're thinking of sealing that _demon_ into your child?"

"Saniiro, calm down," Takeo said with a sharp, reprimanding voice as he stood up, facing the man squarely. Usually, his visitors had to be permitted by his secretary, but Arata had learned early on the job not to bother checking certain people in.

Slightly taken aback that Takeo had used that special leader tone he usually reserved for the most important of situations, the man visibly relaxed. He closed his eyes briefly and took a few calming breaths. When he opened them again, his blue eyes shone with solemnity and sadness.

"You know what you're doing, right?" he asked quietly. "Karura's going to die and your child may as well be dead. We won't be able to call his existence a life."

Takeo sat back down in his seat and ran a hand over his face. Sighing silently, he glanced back at Saniiro and motioned for him to sit too. "I know. But Suna's in a tough time right now." Anger bled into his words. "That damn daimyo isn't doing a thing for us so it's up to me to figure out a way for us to get by. And if a Suna child has to be sacrificed, I'd rather use my own child rather than ruin another family. Besides, you know it's tradition for the jinchuuriki to be descended from the Kage of the village."

Saniiro fell back into the offered chair and sighed heavily. "Takeo, you're my oldest friend. We've known each other since we were kids." His expression crinkled helplessly. "I don't want you to ruin your life."

Takeo just shook his head firmly, face set with a hard expression. "If it means helping the village through these times, I'll do whatever it takes."

Saniiro grimaced. "You're a good leader, Takeo. Too good for your own good."

An uncomfortable silence fell after his statement, during which Takeo aimlessly organized his already impeccably organized desk and Saniiro glared down at the carpet as if it were responsible for the village being in such distress that measures of this extremity had to be taken.

Finally, Takeo looked up again. "How are the kids doing?"

Saniiro raised his head, gratitude for the deliberate topic change flashing across his face for a split second before a large grin appeared. He puffed out his chest proudly. "They're doing great! Kazuo's already proving to be a prodigy, and Kyoko's learning more and more words by the day. In fact, yesterday, she started ordering me around in the cutest toddler voice ever!"

Takeo smiled—something very few people could get him to do—as the rambling of his best friend soothed his scrambled nerves. He looked back down at his paperwork and started on it, occasionally commenting on something Saniiro said.

Soon, it almost seemed like an average day, just Saniiro coming by to drop off a mission report and going off on a tangent while Takeo worked. Nevertheless, Shukaku's glowing yellow eyes remained firmly in the back of Takeo's mind, tauntingly reminding him of his decision to sacrifice his family's happiness for the sake of the Sand Village.

* * *

_12 Years Later_

He should have been furious. He should have felt anger—or better yet, hatred—towards the boy, collapsed mere feet away, for challenging him and _winning_. Or, at the very least, he should have felt disappointment and humiliation. He was the infamous, cold-hearted, merciless, invincible Sabaku no Gaara. The first defeat should have left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Lying on the hard forest floor on his back with his head turned to the side, Gaara stared at Naruto's battered form. Despite his efforts to hate the blonde for challenging his only method of ensuring his existence—kill, kill, _kill_—Gaara just couldn't find anything within him but exhaustion. Even after all this time, building himself an image and lifestyle that would ensure his existence, life seemed determined to rip everything away from him.

'_Why is he so strong?_' he wondered absently. His mind was clouded with pain he'd never experienced before, but he could still note the tickling sensation as something wet trickled down the bridge of his nose.

After twelve long years, he finally got his wish of being able to know what pain was, and, quite frankly, he was sorely disappointed. As a child, he'd always expected physical pain to bring him some sort of salvation, a sense of accomplishment perhaps. Pain was supposed to allow him to be like everyone else for once, to show the world that even the great Gaara the Demon could feel pain.

He felt no different with the bloody bruise on his forehead or the burnt gash in his shoulder. The dull ache spread along his backside or in his swollen jaw didn't feel particularly special. None of it compared to the burning pain that had dwelled in his heart for years.

Suddenly, in a split moment of clarity in his hazy mind, Gaara realized that while he was distracted by his new experience with pain, the blonde boy had begun inching towards him using only his chin. Slowly, but surely, the boy was getting closer by the second.

A surge of fear—an emotion he hadn't felt in years—rushed through Gaara's veins. "D-don't get any closer!"

The blonde continued anyway despite the bloody scratches he was opening on his chin. "The pain of being alone...is completely out of this world, isn't it?"

At those words, the fog in Gaara's mind suddenly cleared, and he could think straight again. His mint eyes focused, locked upon the blonde's cerulean orbs.

Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha stared back with an expression of what could only be called sadness. "I don't know why...but I understand your pain so much, it actually hurts." His eyes suddenly hardened. "But...I...I have people who are important to me now. I won't let you hurt them. If you do...I'll stop you." His eyes flashed dangerously. "Even if I have to _kill_ you!"

Gaara was almost speechless. "Why? Why can you do this for anyone but yourself?"

"My loneliness...that hell," Naruto ground out. "They saved me from it. They acknowledged my existence. They gave me a purpose to keep living. They're precious to me, that's why."

Slowly, Gaara turned his head away, unable to stand the unbudging devotion in Naruto's eyes. The blonde's words reminded him of another blonde, one with steel grey eyes and who had been dead for over six years.

'_Love is the spirit of devoting yourself to someone precious to you,_' he'd liked to say. '_It is expressed by caring for and protecting that person._'

For the first time in six years, Yashamaru's memory did not cause Gaara to flinch or kill or even react at all.

'_Love..._' he thought, feeling oddly calm. '_Is that why he's so strong?_'

Suddenly, the Uchiha genin appeared beside his teammate. They exchanged a few words that Gaara couldn't be bothered to listen to, but it must've been good news because Naruto sighed in relief, dropping his head with exhaustion. Mere seconds later, another two figures dropped down from the trees above.

Their chakra—though significantly lower than usual—was familiar enough that Gaara didn't even need to look at them to realize who they were.

"Don't fight them," he said before they could do anything. When they looked back at him in surprise, he finished almost breathlessly, "Let's stop."

"G-Gaara?" Kankuro ventured, looking unnerved with Gaara's unusually peaceful behavior.

Out of energy to even grace his brother with a response, Gaara just stared up at the sky.

"Okay," Kankuro ultimately said, turning around to help Gaara sit up. Temari was still staring at him with concerned shock, having never seen him in such a weakened state before.

Kankuro slung one of Gaara's arms over his shoulders, supporting the redhead's weight with ease. Nodding to Temari, the three disappeared into the trees.

As they hopped through the trees, Naruto's words surfaced in Gaara's mind again.

_Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha stared back with an expression of what could only be called sadness. "I don't know why...but I understand your pain so much, it actually hurts." His eyes suddenly hardened. "But...I...I have people who are important to me now. I won't let you hurt them. If you do...I'll stop you." His eyes flashed dangerously. "Even if I have to _kill_ you!"_

Those precious people gave him a purpose to live while Gaara's purpose had been to kill. Closing his eyes, Gaara felt his lips twitch in the ghost of a smile.

A fleeting memory flashed in his mind's eye—one of a little girl from Kankuro's age group at the academy, with wild raven black hair constantly wind-blown and wide frosty eyes always looking for another unnecessarily dangerous adventure.

How ironic, to think that he could have had acceptance like Naruto if only he hadn't given up so soon.

For the first time in six years, he felt hope.

* * *

It was with great trepidation that Temari and Kankuro maneuvered through the great Fire Country forest. Though both carried their signature weapons—heavy iron fan and a wooden puppet equipped with more traps than one could guess—neither felt confident in their ability to defend themselves at the moment.

Temari, exhausted both physically and mentally from the terrifying strain of seeing the Shukaku live and in person, jumped at nearly every noise. Every time she blinked, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled up, feeling the nonexistent stares of ANBU she imagined perched in the treetops, waiting to ambush them.

Kankuro, aching numbly from thousands of tiny bug bites all over his body, kept up a mental string of all the curses and swears he knew. His bloody fingers, nipped raw by insects, twitched incessantly. Wincing every time he instinctively tried to mold chakra in his fingertips, Kankuro merely bit his lip and tightened his grip on Gaara.

"Do you need a break?" Temari asked quietly.

"No," Kankuro replied, shaking his head. After a pause, he sighed. "Tem, what do we do?"

He was about themselves, but they both knew the other half of the question, hidden and unsaid: _What is Suna going to do?_

Temari shrugged, opting to answer the simpler one. "I'm sure a distress message was sent to Suna when the Shukaku disappeared. We just need to make it to the border; someone's bound to meet us there with supplies."

"What about Baki? Do we leave without him?"

"He needs to get the rest of the invasion force to safely retreat _and_ make sure no one pursues us. He's got his hands full; we'd just slow him down."

"I suppose you're right."

It was then that Gaara stirred. Immediately, Kankuro's eyes flickered down to him, surprised the redhead was still conscious after everything he'd just gone through.

Temari, oblivious to Gaara's stirring, had just opened her mouth to reply to Kankuro when Gaara, using the last of his strength, rasped out his siblings names. Though his voice was nearly a hoarse whisper, Temari's mouth snapped shut with an audible click and her eyes flashed to Gaara. They awaited his words with bated breath, unsure of how the situation would turn out now that everything they'd once known was shaken out of place.

Gaara let the words out in a breath of relief, as if relieving himself of something that had weighed him down for years. "I'm sorry."

He felt Kankuro's grip on him loosen in surprise as his two older siblings exchanged a glance.

It was Kankuro who replied.

"D-don't worry about it."

* * *

**MHJ:** HI! :) I wish I could update regularly like once a week or something, but the rest of this year's gonna be pretty stressful. At best, I'll be able to update sometime this month, at worst, October or later. At any rate, hope you liked the chapter! :) Stick around for the rest~


	2. Search and Rescue

_Previously..._

_Those precious people gave him[Naruto] a purpose to live while Gaara's purpose had been to kill. Closing his eyes, Gaara felt his lips twitch in the ghost of a smile._

_A fleeting memory flashed in his mind's eye—one of a little girl from Kankuro's age group at the academy, with wild raven black hair constantly wind-blown and wide frosty eyes always looking for another unnecessarily dangerous adventure._

_How ironic, to think that he could have had acceptance like Naruto if only he hadn't given up so soon._

_For the first time in six years, he felt hope._

_It was then that Gaara stirred. Immediately, Kankuro's eyes flickered down to him, surprised the redhead was still conscious after everything he'd just gone through._

_Temari, oblivious to Gaara's stirring, had just opened her mouth to reply to Kankuro when Gaara, using the last of his strength, rasped out his siblings names. Though his voice was nearly a hoarse whisper, Temari's mouth snapped shut with an audible click and her eyes flashed to Gaara. They awaited his words with bated breath, unsure of how the situation would turn out now that everything they'd once known was shaken out of place._

_Gaara let the words out in a breath of relief, as if relieving himself of something that had weighed him down for years. "I'm sorry."_

_He felt Kankuro's grip on him loosen in surprise as his two older siblings exchanged a glance._

_It was Kankuro who replied._

_"D-don't worry about it."_

Chapter 1

_"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself." — Lucille Ball_

_Ever since the infamous Sabaku no Gaara left Suna for the Chunin Exams in Konoha, life in the Sand Village had been considerably calmer than usual. It seemed almost as if a heavy weight had been lifted, allowing the villagers to breathe again. With Shukaku's host absent, the suffocating veil of danger was gone, allowing a general sense of relief and peace to linger in its absence._

_The overwhelmingly peaceful atmosphere made Kazeko Kyoko sick and more irritable than ever._

_The only thing that made her stomach churn more was the order that came directly from the Suna Council, which stood in for the absent Kazekage. Standing before them, Kyoko felt her blood run cold as her brain comprehended her new mission._

_Screw all manners and formalities._

_"You want me to _what_?"_

_Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was aware that her sensei was exasperatedly glaring daggers at her back for her blatant disrespect towards the village elders, but her own eyes were fixed upon the table of councilmen in outrage._

_"This is not up for debate," one of them snapped, a look of heavy disapproval in his eyes._

_Kyoko bit back a scathing remark, exclaiming instead, "But I'm only a chunin! Surely this is a task meant for someone of a higher rank?"_

_"What do you mean by that?" a councilwoman drawled. "Most of our jonin are on the invasion force, and we can't leave the village completely undefended, right?"_

_"Why are you so hesitant anyways?" asked the youngest member, a man only in his mid-twenties. "You always like stepping up to a challenge."_

_Kyoko frowned, floundering for an excuse. "Well...I…"_

_Behind Kyoko, her sensei Mitsuo added in his own thoughts. "All three of the Kazekage's children are powerful in their own rights as well. All you're really doing, Kyoko, is bringing them supplies for the desert trip."_

_"That's not the point," stressed Kyoko, gritting her teeth in frustration as she fought the urge to turn and glare at her sensei. "Gaara—"_

_"—is Suna's top priority," cut in a councilman. He waved Kyoko and her sensei out with a cross expression. "The discussion is over. Unless you want to be suspended of active duty for the rest of the year, I suggest you start preparing for your trip, Kyoko."_

"Kyoko-sama?"

Jerking her eyes away from the forest she'd been staring sightlessly at, Kyoko looked down towards the forest floor, where a dingo wearing a Suna hitai-ate stood, looking severely out of place in the greenery with its coat of sandy beige fur. Mentally smacking herself for letting her mind drift while she was in enemy territory, Kyoko jumped down from her perch, landing the twenty-foot drop with the grace of any shinobi.

"You've caught their scents?" she asked hopefully.

The dingo shook his head.

Kyoko sighed. "We'll have to travel further into the forest then." Biting her lip nervously, she glanced over her shoulder at the edge of the forest, where the endless sky-tall trees melted into flat plains. "I don't like the idea of going too far into Leaf territory so stay alert, Areno."

"Naturally," the dingo said, nose already tipped in the air as they started to maneuver around the bases of the large trees. "The breeze is not in our favor today."

They were running upwind. The wind blowing gently against them from behind would carry their scents ahead into the unknown rather than carrying the unknown's scents back to them. Kyoko shrugged. "The wind is always in our favor, Areno. It won't turn its back on those from the Wind Country."

* * *

Temari sighed as she sat back and wiped her sticky hands on the skirt of her dress, leaving faint red smudges. Her hands didn't feel any less sticky. "Okay, that should do until we can get our hands on a first aid kit."

Kankuro glanced over from where he was perched on a large rock, keeping watch.

Temari had carefully cut off Gaara's shirt with a kunai and ripped it into strips of fabric that she wrapped around Gaara's shoulder and upper chest. Doing so protected the open gash, but left the rest of Gaara's torso revealed and unprotected. Even the thin kusari armor undershirt had been carefully removed.

Kankuro's eyes raked over his brother's pale, flawless skin. Not a single scar marred his flesh, save for the slight injuries he'd received from the recent fight with Uzumaki. It was a sight almost unheard of for a shinobi, reminding Kankuro once more of the invincibility he'd once believed Gaara to possess.

"You see it too, right?" Temari suddenly sighed.

Kankuro blinked. Gaara's skin was nearly flawless; what the heck was he supposed to see? "See what?"

Temari rolled her eyes and pointed to Gaara's midsection. "Look. You can see all of his ribs."

Kankuro hopped off the rock and walked over, squatting down beside Gaara. Temari was right; the redhead's ribs were painfully visible, the skin of his torso stretched tightly over his ribcage. He didn't usually eat with him and Temari, but he'd always assumed Gaara at least ate the snacks their kitchen was usually stocked full of.

"Damn," Kankuro finally said, unsure of what else to say.

An awkward silence descended on the two older siblings as they sat, looking at Gaara and wondering what else about the redhead they didn't know. Well, to be honest, they both knew that they barely knew Gaara at all.

"Temari," Kankuro suddenly said, interrupting the quiet. "Shouldn't you check again?"

"Oh," Temari said dully. "Yeah, you're right."

Since they had retrieved Gaara, Temari had been pausing to periodically send wind messages out in hopes that a Suna wind-user would hear and come to their aid. So far, it appeared as though no one was within her range.

Bringing her hands together in a few quick seals, Temari sent out a brief message carrying request for back-up out into the breeze.

As the wind carried the message away, Temari brought her hands down and sighed. "Hopefully someone receives that one."

* * *

A smile broke out on Kyoko's face when the wind suddenly changed directions, starting to blow into her face instead of behind her. "Areno, stop for a moment."

Obediently, the dingo slowed to a stop, looking up at Kyoko curiously as the black-haired kunoichi closed her eyes. With the breeze came smells of the forest, of flowers, of grass, of wood, but to Kyoko's wind-tuned ears, the wind carried a voice as well.

"Temari's close by," Kyoko finally said, opening her eyes and glancing down at her dingo. "If I received her wind message, they're within a fifty meter radius of us."

Areno's eyes lit up in understanding, and he immediately turned in the direction the wind had blown from. "If she's that close by, then I should be able to find her scent."

Enthusiasm renewed, Kyoko nodded with a grin. "Go for it."

Without needing to be told again, Areno strutted forward, nose tipped slightly in the air. Kyoko strolled along behind the dingo as they wandered around in search of Temari's scent. Suddenly, the dingo stiffened and shot off like a rocket. Kyoko's grin widened, and she took off after him.

Areno reached a large boulder nestled by the base of a tree and leapt atop of the stone, barking once as the sun glinted off the Suna hitai-ate around its neck. Two startled yelps sounded from the other side of the boulder, but no kunai flew. Leaping neatly onto the boulder, Kyoko grinned cheekily down at the startled faces of Temari and Kankuro. "Someone request for back-up?"

Kankuro recovered first.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed, scowling at Kyoko. "Suna sent you as our back-up?"

Kyoko crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "Trust me. I wasn't too happy with the order either. But anyways, where's Gaara? He's kind of our top priority."

The siblings exchanged a glance and shifted aside, revealing the limp and battered form of Gaara, lying flat on the ground and partly hidden by grass. His torso was left mostly bare, his shirt presumably cut up into the makeshift bandages around his shoulder. He was so pale, so thin, so vulnerable that Kyoko blinked owlishly, staring uncomprehendingly at Gaara's prone form.

"Whoa," she breathed, mirth gone from her voice as her grin dropped. She jumped down from the rock, inching closer to try to catch a better glimpse of Sand's jinchuuriki. "What happened to him?" Her eyes flashed over him, catching sight of all the patches of redness smudged all over him. "Is that _his_ blood?"

"Long story," Temari sighed. "You have a medical kit, right?"

Snapping back to reality, Kyoko nodded, frowning. "Of course, but I don't feel comfortable sitting in enemy territory. Can you guys wait until we reach the border? No one has anything life-threatening, right?"

Temari glanced at Kankuro, quickly looking him over as he did the same to her, before shaking her head. "No, we're all fine for now."

"Alright then," Kyoko said, sneaking another glance at Gaara's injured form. "Kankuro, get Gaara ready to be moved. Temari, fill me in on the situation. Have you encountered any ANBU or other pursuers?"

"We left immediately after Shukaku was knocked back into Gaara," Temari began.

"Wait, hold on, Shukaku was knocked _back into_ Gaara?" Kyoko cut in, bewildered. Areno, who had silently crept over, nudged the back of her knees, reminding her to stay focused. Catching her distraction, Kyoko shook her head vigorously. "Wait, tell me later. Go on."

"Well, there was a genin who saw us leave, but we altered our route once we were out of range of his senses. We've stopped a couple of times every now and then to rest, but we've mostly been on the move. No pursuers yet. We suspect Baki's watching our backs."

Kyoko cracked a smile. "That's good. We should treat him to dinner once this is all over."

"We should," Temari chuckled. Then, with a scowl, she glanced over at Kankuro. "Kankuro, you idiot, are you ready yet?"

"Don't patronize me, Temari," the boy snapped back, standing up with Gaara secured between his back and the wrapped-up Crow.

"Alright, we'll be sticking to the forest ground. Stay out of the open. Areno, I want you to keep your nose and ears on high alert. If you even think you sense someone approaching us, let me know," Kyoko quickly instructed. When everyone nodded, she gestured with her hand and they pushed off, weaving through the trees as one tightly-knit unit.

"Kyoko," Temari said after a moment of traveling. "How did you even get here so fast?"

"Areno and his pack, of course," Kyoko replied, shooting a proud grin down at the dingo running beside her. "I brought a sand sled with me. That's how I got the retrieval squad here and that's how I'll be getting us four back."

Temari arched a brow. "Even so, it should've taken you longer to cover the distance."

Kyoko shrugged. "The trip's a lot shorter when you don't take breaks."

Kankuro's gaze shot over. "You serious? How are you not out cold from chakra exhaustion?"

"Soldier pills," Kyoko chirped. "One of the other chunin on the retrieval squad gave me and my dingos a bunch. Three days became one and a half pretty easily from there."

"Have fun with the chakra hangover after those pills wear off," Kankuro snorted.

Kyoko shrugged again. "You've got to do what you've got to do."

"How many shinobi came with you?" Temari asked.

"About ten other chunin," Kyoko replied. "We're technically only bringing supplies to help everyone cross the desert safely. We split up the moment we got here. Hopefully everyone else is okay."

"Eh, they'll be fine," Kankuro grumbled. "Most of the invasion force is jonin anyway so they can handle themselves. Besides, we're top priority."

"_Gaara's_ top priority," Kyoko responded, rolling her eyes.

Kankuro's eye twitched in annoyance, but before he could snap out a response, Kyoko's eyes lit up.

"We're clear!"

The biting remark melted, forgotten, on Kankuro's tongue as the edge of the forest came into view. Rather abruptly, the trees grew sparser and sparser until there were no more, and the forest gave way to the flat plains that lay between Konoha's forest and Suna's desert.

Kyoko pulled out the thin scroll tucked in sash and unfurled it, setting it flat on the floor before planting her palm firmly on its blank canvas and trickling a bit of chakra into the fibers of the paper. In a puff of thick smoke, a sand sled appeared, moderately sized and specially designed for long-distance travel in the desert.

"Get yourselves situated," Kyoko instructed, though she had little need to. Temari and Kankuro were already strapping Gaara down securely, taking care not to jostle the boy's injured shoulder too much.

Leaving them to settle themselves, Kyoko turned away and bit down on her thumb. Once she had broken skin, her hands flew through a series of hand seals before she slammed her hand with the bleeding thumb on the ground. A black seal spiraled away from her palm. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In a puff of smoke, six tired-looking dingoes with fur coats varying from sandy beige to warm gold appeared, each sporting a Suna hitai-ate. Behind Kyoko, Areno perked up at the sight of his pack.

"Kyoko-sama?" several of the dingoes cried in alarm when Kyoko suddenly swayed on her feet.

Restabilizing herself against a tree trunk, Kyoko flashed a bright grin, waving a hand dismissively. "No worries, I'm fine. Sorry for bringing you guys out again so soon, but are you guys ready for another run?"

An uncoordinated symphony of mixed affirmations erupted from the pack, all of them wearing the same eager and determined expression on their furry faces.

Kyoko grinned. "Great! Get to your places then. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. Areno, you're leading today."

The seven dingoes yipped affirmatively and raced to their individual spots, wiggling into their holsters. Quickly, Kyoko went around, tightening the holsters comfortably. Then, she jumped aboard the sled as well and looked to Areno. Her grin was wide and fierce. "Okay, Areno, lead us home!"

* * *

**MHJ:** I hope you guys liked it! :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed and followed this story after reading the prologue! ^_^ Don't forget to review/follow! :) Constructive criticism, thoughts, opinions, what you liked/disliked—anything's cool. Next chapter will be up in like 2-3 weeks hopefully. Until then, _ja ne~_


	3. Lingering Impressions

_Previously..._

_Kyoko pulled out the thin scroll tucked in sash and unfurled it, setting it flat on the floor before planting her palm firmly on its blank canvas and trickling a bit of chakra into the fibers of the paper. In a puff of thick smoke, a sand sled appeared, moderately sized and specially designed for long-distance travel in the desert._

_"Get yourselves situated," Kyoko instructed, though she had little need to. Temari and Kankuro were already strapping Gaara down securely, taking care not to jostle the boy's injured shoulder too much._

_Leaving them to settle themselves, Kyoko turned away and bit down on her thumb. Once she had broken skin, her hands flew through a series of hand seals before she slammed her hand with the bleeding thumb on the ground. A black seal spiraled away from her palm. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"_

_In a puff of smoke, six tired-looking dingoes with fur coats varying from sandy beige to warm gold appeared, each sporting a Suna hitai-ate. Behind Kyoko, Areno perked up at the sight of his pack._

_"Kyoko-sama?" several of the dingoes cried in alarm when Kyoko suddenly swayed on her feet._

_Restabilizing herself against a tree trunk, Kyoko flashed a bright grin, waving a hand dismissively. "No worries, I'm fine. Sorry for bringing you guys out again so soon, but are you guys ready for another run?"_

_An uncoordinated symphony of mixed affirmations erupted from the pack, all of them wearing the same eager and determined expression on their furry faces._

_Kyoko grinned. "Great! Get to your places then. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. Areno, you're leading today."_

_The seven dingoes yipped affirmatively and raced to their individual spots, wiggling into their holsters. Quickly, Kyoko went around, tightening the holsters comfortably. Then, she jumped aboard the sled as well and looked to Areno. Her grin was wide and fierce. "Okay, Areno, lead us home!"_

Chapter 2

_"Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent." — Dalai Lama_

When night fell and the temperature dropped significantly, the group was forced to find shelter and call it a night. After hours of traveling, they had successfully crossed the border and reached the infamous Wind Country Desert, though they were still roughly a day's travel from the village.

Snuggled under a blanket, still feeling the effects of chakra-exhaustion, Kyoko could not bring herself to relax. It didn't matter that her body's chakra levels felt hollow—ironically, Kankuro hadn't fabricated the existence of chakra hangovers—or that her limbs felt like lead. The cave was quiet, nothing disturbing the peace save for the occasional sounds of nature from the desert outside. To her left was Temari, bundled up in a blanket of her own, snoozing away with soft breaths. Outside, out of view, was Kankuro, who would be keeping watch for the next few hours.

It wasn't because of Temari's presence or Kankuro's lack thereof that sleep eluded Kyoko so well.

Sabaku no Gaara was within a meter radius of her to her right, and she didn't like it.

Lying on her back with her head turned to the side, cheek pressed into the rough material of the pack serving as a makeshift pillow, Kyoko stared at the infamous demon of the Sand.

They were close enough to the mouth of the cave that moonlight drifted in dimly, lighting up the area just enough for Kyoko to make out Gaara's silhouette and features, all cast in eerie layers of shadows.

He was lying on his back as well, blanket pulled up to his chin and tucked around his sides like a cocoon. His eyes were closed, features smoothed. Absentmindedly, Kyoko wondered if he dreamed now that he finally got a chance to sleep.

Her eyes traveled down from his face to the general area where his shoulder would be under the blanket.

Earlier that night, when Temari took the first aid kit and properly bandaged Gaara's shoulder as best she could, Kyoko had sat beside her the entire time, engrossed in the medical procedure. Part of her had been in envious awe of Temari's quick hands, rough and capable of handling a battle fan yet apparently gentle enough to bandage a wound. The bigger part of her had been stumped and stunned and shocked at the fact that Gaara was wounded.

Kyoko scoffed lightly and turned her head to stare up at the ceiling.

Gaara had bled. He'd had a gash in his shoulder so deep that a hand could have fit through. The skin around the gash had been burnt and fried, flaking off nastily with faint traces of lightning chakra. And the blood—_oh the blood_. Dried blood had been crusted all over his shoulder, all over his hands, down his arms, on his forehead. Never, in all of her childhood memories, could she remember a time when Gaara had bled so much as a drop from a papercut.

Even though her eyes were burning with fatigue, Kyoko couldn't help but turn her head back towards Gaara and continue to stare.

_"Kyoko," a brown-haired girl whined, tugging on Kyoko's shirt, trying to pull the black-haired girl away from the canyon entrance. "What are you doing? If he catches us, we're dead! Let's just go already!"_

_Impatiently, Kyoko shrugged her friend off. "Leave me alone, Aimi. If you're scared, then go home. I can do this myself."_

_Aimi's eyes widened. "Are you crazy? Everybody knows he's a demon! He'll kill you!"_

_"My dad says he's just unfortunate," Kyoko replied stubbornly, still staring into the playground with intrigued eyes._

_"Your dad also said that he's _dangerous_," Aimi sighed. "No one said you can't feel bad for him. Just don't go doing crazy stuff like this. You'll get killed one of these days."_

_"Seriously, Aimi, just go home," Kyoko snapped, finally pulling her curious gaze away from the little redhead seated on one of the swings in the playground._

_Aimi sighed, scowling fiercely. "Fine. If he hurts you, don't come crying to me." With that, she turned and stomped away._

_Scoffing under her breath, Kyoko turned back to observing the redhead. He was the only person in the playground, sitting on the swings and occasionally pushing himself half-heartedly. Kyoko frowned. What was the point in going to the playground alone? Though judging from all the rumors about him, she surmised that he was probably alone no matter where he went._

_How sad._

_Contrary to what Aimi and her other friends always assumed, Kyoko wasn't oblivious to the redhead's reputation. However, seeing as how she was as arrogant as a seven-year-old could be, she just needed to see for herself if the rumors were true._

Unable to help herself as memories of the first time she approached Gaara surfaced in her mind, Kyoko smiled fondly. After hearing so many stories of a terrifying power sealed away into a little boy two years her junior, her seven-year-old self had grown dubious of the supposed Gaara the Monster. It was beyond her comprehension how a child two years younger than her, who hadn't even begun studying the ways of the shinobi, could be so much more powerful than her.

'_Here I am again_,' Kyoko thought fondly, '_basically spying on you like that day six years ago. Only this time I actually understand that you're more powerful than I could ever hope to be._'

She could still remember comparing the rumors she heard and the truth she saw that day in the playground.

_It was widely agreed upon that Sabaku no Gaara was the scariest thing Suna had to offer. Kyoko knew for sure that he was two years younger than her, but he looked so much younger. She herself was scrawny for her age and height, but Gaara was nothing more than skin and bone. His clothes hung on his thin frame, making him look terribly small and vulnerable._

_Sabaku no Gaara was reputed to resemble a demon with hair that dripped blood and a gaze that killed. She'd never seen blood before besides the time she scraped her knee, but she just couldn't believe blood could be such a pretty color. Gaara's hair was a mess of burgundy red spikes, tousled slightly in the breeze and appearing as soft as loose sand. She liked the color and mentally named it as her new favorite color. She wasn't close enough to see his eyes, but she could just make out the dark rings around them. She grinned, musing how the rings looked like the kohl that women liked to wear. Not exactly what she would expect from a gaze that killed._

_Villagers, especially civilians and genin, liked to claim that an aura of bloodlust always surrounded the boy._

_Slowly and as silently as she could, Kyoko walked toward him. He bristled at the sound of her sandals scaping softly against the few grains of sand on the rocky canyon floor and shrank in on himself, lowering his head as if hoping she wouldn't notice him. She didn't know what it felt like to fear for her life, but she was quite sure that she wasn't even remotely scared at that moment. Instead, she felt sad, incredulous, unimpressed, even a little cheated. _This_ was Sabaku no Gaara, the vicious and fearsome demon of the Hidden Sand? This underweight, shy, lonely kid with gorgeous burgundy hair and kohl-lined eyes was the monster everyone was afraid of?_

Even now, six years later, Gaara was still short and thin as a stick. His shoulders were bony and his torso slim. His hair hadn't changed either; it was still ruffled in burgundy spikes, still looking soft as loose sand, still her favorite color. His eyes, still thickly outlined with dark raccoon-like birthmarks, _still_ made him look like he was wearing kohl.

With him lying so helplessly, bandaged and injured, Kyoko couldn't help but feel cheated again. After all this time of avoiding the redhead's presence, hearing more and more stories of his mercilessness and ruthless killings, when she finally met him again, he was injured and unconscious.

"What?" Gaara suddenly rasped without opening his eyes.

Startled, Kyoko couldn't think of anything to say except an intelligent, "Huh?"

Slowly, Gaara blinked open his eyes, revealing pale mint green orbs, marvelous even in the dim moonlight. He turned his head to face her, eyes and face impassive as ever. "You've been looking at me. What do you want?"

"Oh. N-nothing, really. I was just...looking at you," Kyoko replied awkwardly, unsure of how to phrase her words in a less creepy fashion. Hesitantly, she cautiously added, "It's been a long time, after all."

Gaara stared at her stonily, eyes narrowing just enough for Kyoko to start inwardly panicking. Finally, after a while of watching Kyoko fidget and sweat bullets out of nervousness, he turned his head back to its original position and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Kyoko blurted, sure that she heard wrong.

"I'm sorry."

Blinking owlishly, Kyoko forced her mouth to work again. "Um, n...no problem?" They weren't the words she wanted to say, but at the moment, she was too surprised. What was he even apologizing for? The cave suddenly seemed too small and stuffy, and her lungs craved fresher air.

Slowly, ignoring her body's pleas to remain lying down, Kyoko sat up, immediately feeling the chill of the desert night as her blanket pooled in her lap. As a Suna resident, however, it bothered her little. Laboriously getting to her feet, she swayed unsteadily for a second before righting herself. Then, shooting Gaara a confused yet concerned look, she hobbled toward the mouth of the cave.

Outside, seated casually beside the mouth of the cave was Kankuro. His hood was pushed back, revealing spiky brown hair. His eyes were open, steel grey orbs staring out at the vast expanse of sand spread out before them in all directions. Had his face paint been removed instead of merely smudged, he would have bore an uncanny resemblance to his father.

He said nothing as Kyoko plopped down beside him. She gulped in a breath of cool, dry air, shaking her head as if to shake off dizziness.

Finally, after a long moment of silence, Kankuro sighed. "What, you want another turn at the night shift or something? Go to sleep."

"What happened in Konoha?" Kyoko asked quietly, mimicking Kankuro's cool stare out into the desert.

"Huh?" Kankuro said, wrinkling his nose. "It's a long story. Why do you want to know?"

Drawing her legs to her chest, Kyoko crossed her arms over her knees and settled her chin down on top. Her brows were pulled down in a confused frown. "I think Gaara...just apologized to me."

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Kankuro shift in surprise.

"You think?" His voice was calm.

Kyoko sat up straight, attention fully on her old friend. "Well, yeah, I mean, I don't...he didn't _really _apologize, right? It was just hallucinations generated by my chakra-exhausted mind." She laughed, albeit a little uncertainly. "Right, what was I thinking. Of course—"

"No," Kankuro cut in nonchalantly. "If you thought he apologized, then he probably did."

Kyoko gaped at him. "Huh?" When Kankuro just nodded, Kyoko's jaw dropped. "What? Why would he do that? What could he possibly be apologizing for?"

Kankuro shrugged.

With a sigh, the kunoichi fell back against the cave, tangling a hand wearily in her scruffy bangs. "This is so messed up. It should be me apologizing."

Finally, Kankuro turned his gaze away from the empty desert and glanced at Kyoko. Now that he was sitting beside her, he could see that the dark circles under her eyes had drastically improved since the last time he saw her—most likely because Gaara had been out of the village. Now, however, it appeared her insomnia had returned. "Still having problems sleeping?"

Kyoko angled her face away. "You know why."

"Yeah," Kankuro said, sighing. "Temari's like that too sometimes. Gets caught up in guilt and useless what-if's. Spends the night tossing and turning until the sun's up."

Her eyes slid toward him suspiciously. "Don't try to act tough, Kankuro. You get it too, don't you?"

He bristled, scowling. "No, I don't. It's stupid and useless to stress over something like that. The past is the past. Besides, you know Gaara's reputation. All he does is kill. Sure, he's my brother by blood, but Gaara died the moment Shukaku was sealed in him. He's not my brother anymore."

Kyoko remained quiet for a moment before she suddenly scoffed. "My mom's changed your diaper before and your mom's changed mine. We've been forced into play dates since we were babies. I know you better than I would like. You can't fool me with that fake bravado."

"...I just don't like the idea of Gaara being human."

"...Why?"

"Because if he's human, that means he was human yesterday too. And the day before that. And all the countless days before that, all the way to when we were kids," he sighed in frustration. "I don't like the idea that I could be so affected by village rumors to neglect my own younger brother."

Kyoko didn't reply, knowing that nothing she could have said would have brought Kankuro relief.

Suddenly, Kankuro vigorously shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. "Anyways, my point was that neither Temari nor I get the insomnia as badly as you seem to."

"You guys realized too late to help him," Kyoko sighed. "I consciously decided to abandon him." Her voice lowered to a murmur. "When he's in the village, all I can think about is how he's out there alone and how if only—"

"If only you had realized sooner, if only you could have been there for him? If only you hadn't been deceived by stories and fears, would things have turned out different, for the better?" a new voice finished softly, just above a whisper in volume. Temari stepped out of the cave and sat down on Kankuro's other side.

"Doesn't anyone like sleep anymore?" Kankuro asked, peeved. "If you guys wanted to stay up and talk sentiments, you could've just let _me_ sleep."

Temari ignored him. "After Gaara apologized to us after his defeat, that's all I've been thinking about too." She cracked a humorless smile at Kyoko. "Looks like you and I will both be suffering from insomnia tonight."

"Yeah," Kyoko mused, chuckling softly. Her eyes slid towards the siblings curiously. "He apologized to you guys too?" It was a rather stupid question. They were his siblings; of course Gaara would apologize to them first.

The siblings nodded.

"...Why? Do you think maybe that bump on his head is more serious than we thought?"

"That's what I said," Kankuro said dryly. "But Temari here insists Gaara was perfectly lucid when he apologized and that he meant it."

"...I'd like to believe that, but it seems too uncharacteristic...too good to be true, you know?"

"See?" Kankuro muttered to Temari, who frowned and elbowed him.

"So what exactly happened in Konoha?" Kyoko asked.

The two Sand Siblings shared a glance before shrugging in unison.

"All I know is that something happened between him and this blonde Leaf genin named Uzumaki Naruto," Kankuro said.

Temari nodded. "Yeah, after Gaara knocked me aside and released Shukaku, Uzumaki somehow knocked Gaara awake. When Kankuro and I found him afterwards, he was just…" she paused, fishing for the right words. "I don't know, different?"

Kankuro snorted. "At any rate, Suna really needs to improve its information-gathering. Uzumaki Naruto wasn't even mentioned during the debriefing. The only genin that were worth mentioning were Hyuuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke."

"That's not even the most ludicrous part," Temari added, rolling her eyes. "Hyuuga, their supposed top genin, was defeated by Uzumaki in the finals, and the Uchiha, their _other_ supposed top genin—though I suppose he should get some credit for being the first to make Gaara bleed—was hardly a challenge for Shukaku."

Kyoko arched a brow. "So a kid who wasn't even important enough to be mentioned in the debriefing defeated the top two genin of his village and Gaara _and_ apparently positively impacted Gaara to the point that he apologized to us?"

"Pretty much," Kankuro drawled.

Suddenly feeling the urge to laugh, Kyoko leaned her head back and grinned up at the cool night sky. "I take back everything bad I've ever said about Leaf ninja. Uzumaki Naruto, you may have just become one of my heroes."

* * *

**MHJ:** Hi everyone! :) Hope you enjoyed the chapter! About the rings around Gaara's eyes: I used to think they were dark circles from insomnia, but then I read somewhere that they were rings like the rings around a tanuki's eyes to symbolize the Shukaku, which is a tanuki demon.

Well, not much to say, I guess... Next update will be in 2-3 weeks :) Don't forget to review~ ^_^


	4. Tadaima

_Previously..._

_"...I'd like to believe that, but it seems too uncharacteristic...too good to be true, you know?"_

_"See?" Kankuro muttered to Temari, who frowned and elbowed him._

_"So what exactly happened in Konoha?" Kyoko asked._

_The two Sand Siblings shared a glance before shrugging in unison._

_"All I know is that something happened between him and this blonde Leaf genin named Uzumaki Naruto," Kankuro said._

_Temari nodded. "Yeah, after Gaara knocked me aside and released Shukaku, Uzumaki somehow knocked Gaara awake. When Kankuro and I found him afterwards, he was just…" she paused, fishing for the right words. "I don't know, different?"_

_Kankuro snorted. "At any rate, Suna really needs to improve its information-gathering. Uzumaki Naruto wasn't even mentioned during the debriefing. The only genin that were worth mentioning were Hyuuga Neji and Uchiha Sasuke."_

_"That's not even the most ludicrous part," Temari added, rolling her eyes. "Hyuuga, their supposed top genin, was defeated by Uzumaki in the finals, and the Uchiha, their other supposed top genin—though I suppose he should get some credit for being the first to make Gaara bleed—was hardly a challenge for Shukaku."_

_Kyoko arched a brow. "So a kid who wasn't even important enough to be mentioned in the debriefing defeated the top two genin of his village and Gaara and apparently positively impacted Gaara to the point that he apologized to us?"_

_"Pretty much," Kankuro drawled._

_Suddenly feeling the urge to laugh, Kyoko leaned her head back and grinned up at the cool night sky. "I take back everything bad I've ever said about Leaf ninja. Uzumaki Naruto, you may have just become one of my heroes."_

Chapter 3

_Tadaima : I'm Home [Japanese Phrases Pt.1]_

To someone who had never truly slept in his life, waking up was an odd experience for Gaara.

Blinking up at the white ceiling, Gaara waited patiently for the black spots in his vision to fade as he tried to remember where he was. Although it was his first time injured, he had already grown used to the sensation of losing consciousness and regaining it. During the trip back from Konoha to Suna, he had been drifting in and out of reality, like slipping in and out of a blank void, where hours flashed by like seconds.

This time, his regaining of consciousness appeared to be permanent, for Shukaku, sensing that his host was awake, had already began a long rant.

**About time you woke up!** Shukaku snapped, sounding as irritable as always. **Do you know how bored I was this past hour? You don't even dream when you're unconscious! Can we go kill someone now?**

"You're not helping my headache," Gaara muttered under his breath, closing his eyes briefly as he tuned the demon out. Once he had successfully reduced the demon's aimless rambles to white noise in the back of his head, he opened his eyes again and, more alert, took in his surroundings.

He was in a small cubical room with white walls and a slight sterile smell in the air. A sink was in the corner, the counter beside it piled up with various medical equipment. Centered on the wall was the only decoration: a framed calligraphic painting of the Hidden Sand's village symbol.

Through the window, partly hidden by white shades, was the evening sky. The sun was already gone, but had evidently set only recently, for the heavens were still painted in deep watercolor jewel tones.

Though the view of the sky was breathtakingly beautiful, Gaara carelessly turned his gaze away and slowly sat up, brow furrowing slightly in response to the pain and soreness that flared up in his body.

It was clear by now that he was in a Suna medical room, but looking down at himself—still sticky from dried blood and dressed in his ruined clothes—it was also clear that whoever had put him in the room had made no efforts to tend to him. Honestly, he would have been more surprised if someone had properly taken care of him while he was out.

He carefully leaned back down again, not bothering to cover himself with the blanket. Like the brief moments he'd surfaced to reality during the return trip, thoughts of Naruto immediately sprung to his wandering mind.

Sabaku no Gaara understood the cruelties of life very well. He understood loneliness and grief; he understood hate and fear. In fact, it only took one glance into someone's eyes for him to tell if that person had suffered at the hands of fate as well.

It had taken one look to know that the Uchiha genin from Leaf knew pain.

But it had taken an entire battle to notice the pain in Uzumaki Naruto.

Somehow, that orange-clad loudmouth had managed to fool even Sabaku no Gaara with his cheery grin and attention-grabbing antics. Despite hatred, fear, and ostracization being the natural fate of jinchuuriki, Naruto had managed to leave such negative feelings in the past. He didn't have to kill to prove he existed; people willingly acknowledged him and even gifted him with their presence and smiles. He fought with teeth gritted against pain for the sake of others, completely disregarding his own self-preservation.

There was something in Naruto's broad, vulpine grins that brought to mind the laughing, wolfish ones of the last and only person to have ever considered Gaara a friend.

"Kazeko Kyoko," muttered Gaara, his eyes narrowing slightly in concentration as he recalled an old memory.

_A small, pale boy sat alone in a silent playground. His hands were curled loosely on the swing's chains, his eyes staring unseeingly at the empty space before him. An hour ago, that very empty space had been budding with laughing, carefree kids. Until one of them noticed Gaara the Freak sitting silently on the swings nearby._

_The small hands tightened on the swings. Unsurprisingly, they had all run away._

_With a small sigh, Gaara half-heartedly pushed himself, downcasting his eyes as his swing gave a long, old creak. His chest was hurting again._

_As he lifted his hand to clutch at the fabric over his heart, he bristled at the sudden sound of soft footsteps crossing the canyon. Lowering his head even more, he hunched his shoulders inward, trying to appear as nonexistent as possible. His eyes stared down at his feet, unbudging even when the footsteps came to a stop before him._

_After a moment, the person shifted, and Gaara squeezed his eyes shut anxiously._

_"How long are you going to sit there and cry?"_

_The voice sounded faintly familiar. Gaara blinked, feeling several tears slip down his cheeks as he did so; he hadn't even realized he was crying. Sniffling quietly, he solemnly pulled the collar of his shirt up to dab at his eyes before he lifted his head._

_In front of him stood a girl several inches taller than him, wearing black shorts with a matching loose-fitting tank top; strips of linen cloth were wrapped around her bare arms, bandaged tightly from her shoulders to her wrists. Ink black hair flared from her face wildly in a wind-swept fashion, brushing along her shoulders._

_Though she was staring at him with ice-blue eyes, meeting his gaze almost challengingly—though he had no idea why—it was still beyond Gaara's comprehension that she was speaking to him. Slowly, he glanced behind him; perhaps she was talking to someone else while coincidentally looking at him?_

_Finding no one else around, he looked back at the vaguely-familiar girl and pointed to himself. "A-are you talking to me?"_

_The girl rolled her eyes. "Yes." Without warning, she suddenly stuck her face in his, grinning when he jerked back in surprise, falling off the swing only to be caught in a bed of protective sand. As the sand set him down on the ground, Gaara stared at the girl, who appeared completely unfazed by his unintentional show of power._

_Instead, she offered a hand and said, "Kankuro says you don't look anything like him, but I think you do."_

_At the mention of his brother, who avoided him just as cautiously as the other neighborhood kids did, Gaara suddenly realized why this girl had seemed so familiar._

_"You're Kankuro's friend," he said quietly in realization. With the realization came a flood of vague memories of the girl and Kankuro, both scowling as their fathers pushed them into the same room. Gaara had often wondered why the two were always together when they appeared to hate each other so much._

_The girl scrunched up her face. "I wouldn't say Kankuro and I are friends. But yeah, that's me."_

_Gaara tried his best not to look too confused. Instead, he asked the question burning on his tongue. "W-why aren't you...scared...um, of me?"_

_"You're younger and smaller than me," the girl said, rolling her eyes. "You don't even look scary. Why should I be scared?"_

_"B-because I have sand," Gaara meekly replied._

_She stuck her tongue out at him, much to his confusion. "Who cares? We're in the Sand Village."_

_Her words stumped him, and all he could do was stare at her in stunned silence._

_She suddenly frowned, wiggling the fingers of her outstretched hand. "Come on, my arm's getting tired."_

_Gaara stared at the offending hand. "W-what do I…?"_

_"Oh yeah, I forgot you don't know how to do a lot of stuff," the girl sighed. She bent down at grabbed Gaara's hand, much to his surprise, and yanked him up to his feet. Instead of releasing his hand, she pumped it up and down a few times. "I'm Kyoko. A hundred times better than Kankuro, just for the record."_

_As soon as she released his hand, Gaara slowly withdrew it, holding it close to his chest as he stared at Kyoko in confusion. She stared back expectantly. After a few seconds, Gaara shifted, uncomfortable under her stare. What was she doing? Her blatant attitude and apparent fearlessness unnerved him._

_Though he had spent countless days wishing for a friend to talk to like all the other kids, now that he was suddenly given the opportunity, Gaara was utterly speechless and, quite frankly, rather scared._

_Suddenly, Kyoko sighed, shaking her head with a small smile. "Looks like I have a lot to teach you."_

_Gaara shifted again, unsure of how to respond._

_"After I introduce myself, you should introduce yourself too," Kyoko lectured with a well-natured grin. "Ready? Hi, I'm Kyoko!"_

_Gaara blinked._

_"Um," he said hesitantly. "H-hi, I'm Gaara?"_

_Kyoko grinned and nodded approvingly. "Nice to meet you, Gaara!"_

Before he could dwell on the past any longer, Gaara abruptly shook himself out of his thoughts, a familiar twang appearing in his chest. It throbbed in time with the wound in his shoulder, but he fought back the urge to wince at either. Eyes darker than usual, he swallowed back the pain.

How long had it been since everything changed? Had it really only been six years since she turned away from him? Since she labeled him a lost cause and cast him out like everyone else in his life did? To Gaara, his childhood, briefly blessed with grins and laughs, seemed a lifetime ago.

Too sore for his usual nocturnal activities, Gaara closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tuned in to what Shukaku was raging about. Absentmindedly, while he listened to the demon talk on and on, he wondered—not for the first time—if things could have been different if only he hadn't given up so soon.

* * *

It was with a horrible migraine that Kyoko wearily climbed the stairs to the apartment she shared with her remaining three family members. After an entire day spent traveling across the desert nonstop, they'd managed to arrive in Suna by sunset. The Sand Siblings had been whisked away immediately, leaving Kyoko to politely decline medical treatment to go deliver an oral report to the council.

Had she known they would grill her for impeccable details for over an hour, she would have gladly accepted the medical treatment offered to her earlier.

Stopping before a wooden door with a "four" carved neatly in its center, Kyoko sighed again and shoved a hand into the pouch strapped behind her hip. Her fingers pushed aside shinobi wire and a stack of exploding notes before finally closing on a small metal key.

Mindlessly unlocking the door, she grabbed the doorknob and pushed the front door open.

"I'm home," Kyoko called out wearily as she crossed the threshold of her apartment, absently disabling the small traps in the doorframe with her chakra.

There was no pattering of feet, no clattering of objects, no cheery "Welcome home, Kyoko" called back.

The apartment was empty, filled with an unsettling silence and completely lacking its usual warm cheery atmosphere.

With a sigh, Kyoko closed the door, reset the traps, and kicked off her sandals. She'd forgotten that her usual roommates were out, one on the invasion force and two assigned to the retrieval team aiming to bring them back. Marching grimly to the bathroom, aiming to wash away nearly four day's worth of grime, she mentally prepared herself for a quiet night.

She never really liked those.

* * *

It felt like Kyoko had just closed her eyes for a moment when the sudden slam of the front door jerked her out of her deep slumber. Instinctively reaching for the kunai stashed beneath her pillow, she quickly relaxed as her lethargic mind recognized the chakra signatures of the two intruders.

Yawning, she pushed herself up, noting as a half-eaten granola bar fell from her chest. She blinked at it owlishly, realizing that she must have fallen asleep as she was eating it. With a shrug, she picked it up and stuck the remaining half in her mouth before dragging herself out of bed.

The two intruders were already raiding the fridge by the time she stepped out to greet them.

"Welcome home!" Kyoko exclaimed with a wide albeit tired grin as she watched a pair of identical black-haired boys rummage through the refrigerator and cabinets, all of which were mostly empty.

"We're home," one of the boys replied dryly.

The other sighed, closing a cabinet door. "Any food, Kyoko?"

Rolling her eyes, Kyoko strode past him to a different cabinet, pulling out one of the granola bars she had eaten for a late dinner the previous night. "Here. We need to go grocery shopping soon."

"Thanks, cousin," the boy said casually, tossing one to his brother before peeling off the wrapper on another one. "When did you get home?"

"Last night at about sunset," Kyoko replied. "How about you two? You didn't really _just_ get in, did you?"

"No," the one by the refrigerator said. He rubbed at his silvery blue eyes sleepily. "We got in a few hours past midnight. One of the jonin we brought back was in critical condition so we stayed at the hospital to help out."

"I see," Kyoko murmured, nodding sympathetically. "You two should go catch up on some sleep then."

"Yeah, we will," one yawned.

"Oh," the other exclaimed. "I almost forgot; we brought Kazuo-nii back too."

At the mention of her brother, Kyoko's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"He was almost dangerously low on chakra, but otherwise uninjured," said one.

The other nodded. "Yeah, you could probably visit him now. He should've had several hours of rest by now."

In unison, the boys yawned and started to plod out of the kitchen. "We're off to bed."

"Good night, Taizo, Saburo," Kyoko called after them, smiling affectionately at their backs.

Taizo and Saburo, identical twins only a year younger than Kyoko, were her cousins on her father's side. After the deaths of their parents and Kyoko's mother on a particularly dangerous mission nearly ten years ago, they had clung to Kyoko and Kazuo as tightly as true blood siblings would have, and thus tight bonds tightened further.

Suddenly, the twins' door opened again and Taizo stuck his head out. "Oh, by the way, Kazuo-nii's should be in room 304 on the third floor."

"Okay," Kyoko called back, grabbing a granola bar of her own for breakfast as she ran off to her room to get dressed. "Thanks for the heads up."

Taizo nodded and retreated back into his room.

After donning her shinobi gear and hastily pulling her unbrushed hair back into a ponytail, Kyoko grabbed her wallet and keys before running to the living room window, throwing it open and leaping out with an excited grin on her face. After nearly two hectic months of patiently living with the twins without Kazuo there to mediate the three troublemakers, she was relieved and glad that her older brother was finally home.

Outside, it was evident that the entire village had already stirred though it couldn't have been later than nine in the morning. Already, street merchants had already set up little booths, grinning and making small talk with familiar passer-bys. Kyoko grinned at the sight of one particular merchant setting up a table.

"Sachiko-baa-chan!" she called out.

The woman, round and lively, whirled around, a smile appearing on her friendly, slightly aged face. "Kyo! Good to see you! How have you been?" As Kyoko neared, the woman squinted at the girl's face. "I see you've been well. Finally getting some sleep, eh?"

"I've been well," Kyoko chirped, avoiding the woman's observation. Sachiko and her husband were Kyoko's favorite merchants in the village. The friendly couple didn't specialize in one particular type of merchandise and thus was never out of interesting stock; not to mention, they were always willing to haggle to a price that both seller and customer were satisfied with, making them popular with the folk of Suna.

"What can I do for you this morning?" Sachiko asked. "More jelly candies? I saved a bag just for you."

"Well, I would like the candy later," Kyoko laughed, "today, I actually wanted to buy some flowers. Irises, to be exact."

"Oh? Planning to spruce up the apartment?" Sachiko asked, eyebrows rising in surprise.

Kyoko shook her head. "No, nii-san was admitted into the hospital last night. I was planning to go visit him and bring some flowers to cheer him up. You know how he hates hospitals."

"Oh, the poor thing!" the merchant exclaimed. She turned in her seat towards the storehouse she was set up in front of. "Yoshio! Honey, bring out a bouquet of iris flowers, will you?"

"Sure," an old male voice called back.

As Sachiko turned back, Kyoko pulled her tattered wallet out of the tools pouch on her hip, biting her tongue when she felt how light her wallet already was. "How much?"

"Nonsense!" Sachiko snapped good-naturedly, having already sensed that Kyoko didn't have much money to spend in the first place.

"But flowers are expensive!" Kyoko argued back.

Sachiko waved away the younger girl's hand. "Since it's our dear Kazuo hospitalized, it's on the house. Just tell him to stop by once he's all better to say hi, alright? I'm serious, no money, Kyoko. Stop giving me that look."

With a laugh, Kyoko dropped her affronted pout and conceded defeat. "You're the best, Sachiko-baa-chan!"

Sachiko laughed and reached out to ruffle Kyoko's hair affectionately. Just then, Yoshio, a smiling man with a receding hairline, came out with a fresh bundle of iris flowers, their beautiful ivory petals looking smooth, delicate, and velvety soft.

"Kyoko," Yoshio exclaimed, handing the flowers over. "Haven't seen you in a while. Doing well?"

"Of course she is," Sachiko cut in playfully. "Look at how well-rested she looks compared to before."

Before the conversation could take a dip in an uncomfortable direction, Kyoko quickly cleared her throat. "Well, I'm off to the hospital. Thanks again!"

"You're welcome!" the couple called back as she leapt off, starting to hop along rooftops as she made her way towards Suna's main hospital.

Luckily for her, the hospital wasn't too far away, otherwise her flowers might have suffered from the speed with which she was racing over the tops of people's houses. Soon enough, she'd landed in front of the sandstone building and had dashed inside, throwing a quick greeting at the receptionist behind the desk before shooting up the stairs and bounding up entire flights of steps in two chakra-enhanced leaps.

As she stepped onto the third floor, however, her sharp ears picked up on a name that made her stop in her tracks.

"Sabaku….demon….what do…"

Curious, Kyoko jogged over to the corner in the opposite direction she'd been heading in and peeked around. A trio of nurses was grouped around a closed room, each wearing a nervous and frightened expression. Just then, two turned and gestured to the smallest of them, patting her shoulders.

The girl, small and dainty with rosy cheeks, wrung her hands together and wailed, "But I don't want to treat Sabaku no Gaara!"

The iris bouquet nearly slipped from Kyoko's suddenly numb fingers.

The jovial mood induced by the prospect of seeing Kazuo again after months evaporated instantly. The bouquet hanging limply in one hand, Kyoko stepped around the corner towards the nurses. They looked up as she approached.

Stopping a few feet away, Kyoko pinned them with a stunned, incredulous stare.

"Are you three saying you left Gaara completely untouched since he arrived?"

* * *

**MHJ:** Soooooo it's been a lot more than 2-3 weeks...no hard feelings right? :) But GOOD NEWS! ED/EA college apps are done so I can write more! :D Yayayayaayy~~ Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! ^_^ I'll try to get the next chapter up within 2 weeks~ Now, before I go, I wanna make a few announcements:

**CHECK MY PROFILE PAGE. THERE IS AN IMPORTANT POLL THERE CONCERNING THE AGES OF EVERYONE IN THIS STORY.**

I wanted to put a second poll up, but ff only let me put up one :( So here's the second question:

What should the plot of Road to Redemption focus on?

- The journey should focus on Gaara changing and becoming Kazekage.

- The journey should focus on Gaara changing, becoming Kazekage, and then surviving the removal of Shukaku.

- The journey should focus on Gaara changing, becoming Kazekage, surviving the removal of Shukaku, and then fighting in the war.

- Split it up. Make a sequel about the war.

Lemme know what you think! :) Seeya~


End file.
